Heather & Ivan Morison
Heather and Ivan Morison are fascinated by the idiosyncratic. Curious about everything, their practice engages directly with lived experience. Their inherently diverse activities reveal the breadth of their interests and give us an insight into their artistic practice: Ramblers Association, Gun and Rifle Club, Wednesbury, Skyline Gym and Sauna (men only), Birmingham, Royal Horticultural Society, Scimitar Owners Club, Alberto Scallitarisoni Pool and Snooker Club, Palmero, Sicily. The pastimes they engage in illuminate their practice, which in a previous era would have been considered normal, even mundane, but are now perceived to be unusual precisely because of their everydayness.
A strong sense of documentary pervades their work. The video, Crazy Yellow Ant Hill (2003), shows the Morisons cavorting naked in the forest as archetypical humans, running fleetingly in and out of the frame, busying themselves with the daily necessities. Produced in the style of a wildlife documentary, the viewer has the experience of glimpsing a “shy animal” in its natural habitat.
The documentary genre is also used in the series of audio works Still Life (2003-2004). A collection of audio interviews (produced as limited-edition white label vinyl LPs) were recorded whilst eavesdropping on enthusiasts, such as fly fishers, star gazers, beekeepers and bird watchers, merging the details of natural surroundings with storytelling. History books may capture the newsworthy events for the next generation, but the Morisons set the story straight having preserved and recorded the everyday—an everyday which is eternal and transcends the moment.
To present their observations, the artists employ formal and conceptual strategies, such as their use of text: Limited Edition Printed Cards are mailed to an ever-growing community of card collectors. These works record a conversation or an experience using print, where the physicality and ownership of the card reinforces the importance of the observation and has the effect of anchoring it in our minds. As the Morison’s practice has evolved, so too has their use of this device. Originally narrating tales of woe and joy surrounding their activities in their Edgebaston garden, they have extended their universe to include a wide variety of overseas locations. In Beijing, they recorded their experiences with a pair of Java sparrows: "Heather Morison is haunted by the horrific death of her two beautiful Java Sparrows. Whilst in the care of Mr. Han they were left on the floor, where a yellow weasel chewed through the bars of their cage and ate the terrified pair. Didn’t Mr. Han realise how precious they were? Ivan is not so upset. Beijing, China".
During the Morison’s roaming research residency, Global Survey (2003), together with media arts organisation Vivid, the tone of the observations changed as they travelled from Scandinavia to the Baltic States, through Siberia, China and Mongolia. Initially full of marvel and wonder, the recordings become bleaker with the deteriorating physical conditions echoed in their writings. An expedition of discovery and documentary that allowed random factors to influence the programme, Global Survey was full of unexpected incidents. When someone suggested they “must see the Siberian larches in Russia”, they went to explore and discovered acts of gross deforestation. Responding in a state of shock, they issued the following message in their Limited Edition Printed Cards series: "Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Morison do not understand it. Why are they cutting down all the Siberian larches? Arkhangelsk, Russia”.
The Morisons are in a constant state of flux, continually engaging with and responding to their surroundings. They are attracted by beauty in all its unexpected minutiae, working as fascinated observers and able raconteurs, reporting back events they encounter with humour and wonder. They are arrested by items on the periphery, aware of their understated importance and endowing them with frame and focus, elevating these idiosyncratic events to objects of vivid fascination and wide appeal. Their work is a celebration of human nature, of the people and events they experience as they travel, highlighting the everyday and placing importance and value on minor events that so often pass us by. In the manner of the Victorian explorer they observe, meticulously record, and collect, enjoying chance encounters and affinities with the incidental and the quietly unusual. Their practice is that of the gifted amateur, with diverse interests and a preparedness to step across given boundaries into other fields of expertise. At the same time their affinity with gardens, a universally popular activity, and natural history, has put them in contact with “everyman”. The Victorians discovered the natural world with passion and wonder, and one suspects the Morisons must have their own “Wunderkammer” at home.
Erica Burton, Victoria Preston